Salon: Requiem for a Reformer (Nader…feel of Spinal Tap's last tour)

[kskiska]

Four years ago, he drew celebrities and crowds. This time, as it wheezes toward the finish line, the Nader campaign has the feel of Spinal Tap's last tour.

You have to be willing to be humiliated," Ralph Nader told an audience recently. "I love it." The setting was the University of New Hampshire in Durham as Nader mused aloud on the trials facing leaders of alternative political movements in the United States. Like many things the perpetual candidate says these days, however, the statement rang hollow. Ralph Nader may or may not feel humiliated by finishing an increasingly distant third in presidential elections. But he certainly does not appear to love it.

Why should he? Nader's latest presidential effort -- No. 4 if you're counting -- is a sputtering campaign struggling to draw support. Yes, every vote counts. Yes, Nader could again be, as he was in 2000, one of the decisive factors in the outcome of the election. But if so, it will not be because his campaign is generating momentum down the stretch, or is a success on its own terms. It is not.

(snip)

To see just how Nader is struggling, consider the trajectory of his campaign in 2000, and contrast it to his 2004 effort. On Aug. 25, 2000, Nader drew 10,579 supporters, who paid $7 each, to a "super rally" at the Portland Coliseum. There followed a string of "super rallies" with five-figure attendance numbers: 11,500 in Minneapolis, 12,000 at the Fleet Center in Boston, 10,000 in Chicago, and about 15,000 inside New York's Madison Square Garden, at $20 a ticket.

In 2004, Nader events are far smaller. On Oct. 5, for example, Nader spoke to about 65 supporters in Portland, Maine, before moving on to the University of New Hampshire event, where just over 100 supporters showed, and finishing the day speaking to an audience of about 500 at the University of Vermont. Nader's largest crowd of the month appears to have been about 800 in Berkeley, on Oct. 11, but I counted a more typical 225 in the audience last Saturday as Nader spoke on the Rutgers campus in Piscataway, N.J. Nader will end October having held over 30 campaign events, yet his total audience for the month could comfortably fit inside Madison Square Garden. At many events, anti-Nader groups protest outside; inside, former supporters often confront him during the question-and-answer sessions.

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/27/nader/index.html

[Flammable Materials]

1. "Willing to be humiliated"? Try MASOCHIST, Ralph.

Haven't you had enough yet?

[NEOBuckeye]

2. Nader has destroyed himself.

I can understand 2000, even with the impact his candidacy had on the outcome. But if 2004 was his chance at redemption, he blew it. He has discredited his own causes by accepting donations from the very groups and interests he supposedly was fighting against.

So, what's the point of it all, Ralph? Do you even know?

[Skittles]

3. I have lost every shred of respect I ever had for Nader

I think he may be mentally ill